


Smiling at the Stars

by baexil



Category: GOT7, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, M/M, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-05-27 20:39:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6299587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baexil/pseuds/baexil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He freezes, lips parting in surprise, when he recognizes the young man strumming softly on his guitar, swaying slightly in a spot of morning rays as his voice rings clearly in the forest. The power and emotion in his voice has goosebumps racing up his arms. <i>Youngjae.</i></p><p>( Also known as the GOTbang, who-decided-to-put-these-kids-in-charge, Music Summer Camp Counselors AU. )</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smiling at the Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [knth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/knth/gifts).



> Well, here it is! My fic for you, the lovely conditionally. Your prompts were amazing, each one inspired a whole new world in my head that I wanted to run and explore. Obviously, because of time constraints, I couldn't do that. Ahaha, so I kind of took a couple and mixed them together to make the following. I hope you see some of your ideas realized below. Please enjoy!

“Hyung!” Taehyung calls, shoving Jimin away with a grin in order to gallop over to him, “Are you coming to dinner?”

“In a bit,” is Jaebum’s short answer, waving him off with a hand, “Go on without me, I’ll be there soon.” Far too used to his ways by now, Taehyung simply gives him a wide smile before turning on his heel and dragging the other kids out of the practice room. There is some left over chatter, echoing through the room before he is left alone with his thoughts. 

Softly, he taps at some keys in the piano in front of him, stopping every so often to scribbling down a note or two in his composition notebook. He is going to have to get a new one soon, he’d just bought this one a few weeks ago, but this one is already practically falling apart at the seams, worn and thoroughly used. It would’ve been better to bring a couple of blank notebooks with him to camp, he always went through them so quickly here. Something about the energy of the place that kicks up his inspiration. 

That energy was what he was banking on, truthfully. It’s why he’d caved into his professor incessant emails about staffing their middle school summer music camp for another summer. He was a senior, he argued, he needed to find a job, something productive to do with his music degree, but his professor would have none of it. 

“You need to enjoy being young while you can, Jaebum,” she said with a knowing exasperation. And her advice bugged him until he finally accepted the counselor position. He looked back on his previous summers with positive feelings and memories, maybe it would be enough to drag back his lost muse. 

His muse has been gone for so long now. He missed it. 

“What are you frowning so hard at?” a bright voice asks from far too close. Jaebum jumps, so concentrated that he didn’t even notice the stranger until he was peering over his shoulder. His heartbeat races as he swings around with narrowed eyes and a quick and sharp retort on his lips. Wide eyes meet his own and without really knowing why, the words still on his tongue. 

His interrupter is a young man. He looks young with a softness to his face and an innocent, boyish twinkle in his eyes, but still plainly older than most of the campers. One of their high schools perhaps? It was rare, but not uncommon to have high schoolers come to the middle school summer camp to help out. Just as he is trying to figure out if he has seen this boy in one of his classes before or not, Jinyoung comes in and joins them. 

Without so much of a greeting, Jaebum asks him, “Is this one of your campers?” 

Jinyoung and Youngjae glance at each other, sharing a look, before bursting into laughter. He watches, confused. Jinyoung wraps an arm around the new kids’s shoulders and leans on him as he laughs, Jaebum arches an eyebrow in surprise. Jinyoung may be tactile, but only really with his friends. 

“Oh, I missed you Jaebum.” Jinyoung finally says, wiping a tear from his eye. 

“It’s only been a week since class ended,” he deadpans. 

“Point still stands. And this-” Jinyoung nudges the new kid with his hip, “is one of our new counselors this summer.” Jaebum is surprised again while the other ducks out from under Jinyoung’s arm, pushing him away to give a proper bow. 

“I’m Choi Youngjae,” he says with a wonderfully, bright smile, “Nice to meet you.” 

He mutters some sort of reply back while Jinyoung joins him at the piano bench, leaning into his side and warming him, “Just wait until you hear the kid _sing_.” 

Despite himself, he is intrigued. 

——

He gets up the next morning, forcing himself out for a run after downing some water. Quickly he finds his well-worn path, the same one he’s been running for the past three summers, and sets easily into his rhythm. It’s nice to sweat off his sleepiness and stomp out his odd first day with every long pace he takes. 

Not exactly an odd first day, maybe unexpected is a better way to describe it. Youngjae instantly flashes through his thoughts. He doesn’t break pace, but he does frown at nothing in particular. Sure, he had expected new staffers this summer, they sorely needed ones after the graduating seniors left, but he wasn’t expecting to be so, well, intrigued by one of them. 

About half way around the lake, Jaebum is distracted from his thoughts by soft music. Slightly confused, he slows down his gait, looking around to where the music is originating from. It’s not a song he has heard before but the lilting guitar matches perfectly with the honey vocals that float nicely above the melody. Curiosity piqued, he follows his ears to follow the path, trying to tread softly but failing as branches crunch underneath his feet. He’s not sure why, but something about the atmosphere of the song, how it moves in the air has him not wanting to break the song for anything, even the sounds of him walking. 

The song becomes louder and for some inexplicable reason his heart is picking up it’s pace. There is no real reason to be nervous, but it’s his instinctual reaction to the way the song is making him feel. Alive and warm and just good. The path turns the corner and he spots a young man, sitting on a picnic bench. 

He freezes, lips parting in surprise, when he recognizes the young man strumming softly on his guitar, swaying slightly in a spot of morning rays as his voice rings clearly in the forest opening. The power and emotion in his voice has goosebumps racing up his arms. 

Youngjae. 

Careful to not disturb the moment and to stay unnoticed, Jaebum slips away, his mind reeling. 

——

“1 and 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6-“ he counts to the beat, clapping along for his students benefit. He’s watching them with eagle eyes as they go through the choreography he gave them that morning. They picked it up with a speed that easily impressed him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to push them to try even harder. 

The bass is thrumming loudly through the practice room and his students are sweating, their hair and clothes sticking to them unpleasantly, but it doesn’t diminish the spark of determination in his eyes. He’s proud- and to think, it is only the second day. 

Just as the song is restarts it's loop from the beginning, Taehyung and Jimin bust through the door. They strike poses in an obviously rehearsed fashion, something silly that looks like they stole it out of a manhwa. Instantly, the room’s focused energy shatters and his kids slump over, gasping for breath and laughing at the two, supposed adults, in between breaths. 

“Don’t worry,” Taehyung declares dramatically, “Oppa is here for you.” 

Some of his male students groan, throwing empty water bottles and towels at them, but the two don’t even flinch, not even when one particularily good throw has a water bottle bouncing off Jimin’s forehead. Jaebum rolls his eyes and takes a glance at the clock. 

“Alright kiddos, time for dinner,” he orders, tone authoritative enough to grab their attention again, “Make sure you hydrate enough before the breakout sessions tonight. Good practice.” 

His students murmur excitedly, filing out quickly. Jaebum puts his hands on his hips and waits for all of his kids to leave, trying to stop his lips from twitching in a reluctant smile. 

“You two are giant dorks.” 

“Oh please,” Jimin laughs, breaking his pose and walking over to drape himself over Jaebum’s shoulders, “You need us to help you not terrify your students.” 

“That’s right, we only we know how cute and fluffy you _really_ are,” Taehyung says, following Jimin to pinch obnoxiously at Jaebum's cheeks. They both make over the top kissy faces at him and the urge to bite at those pinching figures is strong, despite how childish it would be. Deep down, though, he knows he can’t do anything against them. 

To say he is wrapped around their fingers would be an understatement. 

“C’mon, you brats,” he caves in as they coo at him, taking their prime opportunity to poke and prod at him while he is being complacent, “Let’s go get some dinner too.” 

——

During dinner at the Main Cabin, his eyes frustratingly keep getting drawn back to Youngjae who, despite being brand spanking new, fits into their group with an ease and comfort that is unreal. It's almost as if he is now occupying an empty place the rest of them didn't even know they had. He feels a bit relieved that Youngjae is fitting in so nicely, but also slight irritation and a large, growing sense of curiosity. He continues munching at his food, contemplating. What was it about Youngjae that was drawing them all in so easily? 

After their meal concludes Jaebum slips out first, hoping to find someplace quiet where he can get back into the melody that he was trying to pin down earlier, but Mark and Jackson are quicker. 

“C’mon, it’s tradition!” Jackson says in that tone of voice that can, provenly, persuade anyone to do anything he wants. The tone that instantly makes Jaebum want to rebel, with no other reason than just Because. He continues, “You can’t just skip out on tradition, now can you?” 

“How can it be tradition when you were the one who started it just last year?” Jaebum responds dryly. 

“It’ll be fun,” Mark adds softly at his other side, even he looks excited, something about his usually mellow personality that is sparking at the edges at the prospect of the get-together. It wasn’t often that Mark looked forward to going to a large gathering and, between his excitement and Jackson’s wagging eyebrows, he’s caving in far earlier than he wants. 

“Fine,” he sighs, “but not for long, we’ve all got early classes to teach tomorrow.” 

They flash matching triumphant grins at him before dragging him away. 

Taking advantage of campers mandatory meeting with the Dean and “real” adults, the college student staffers gather together to kick back and celebrate being back together without having to play as responsible young adults. All of the counselors have jammed themselves into the boys dorm and when they enter, someone is already passing around drinks while another pulls out some board games. There is faint music playing from another room where no doubtfully more people crammed in. 

The moment he has a drink in his hand, Taehyung and Jimin are dragging him away from Mark and Jackson, which seems fine for them when Jackson spots Namjoon across the room, walking off with a large smile on his face. He lets Taehyung and Jimin manhandle him onto to a couch that has been pushed up against the wall, taking a seat on either side of him. They sit far too close, but that’s not unusual for them, friendly bumping into each other and freely laughing. Seokjin and Yoongi are playing some sort of drinking game on the coffee table in front of them while Jungkook watches closely, sipping on some sort of fruity-looking drink. Yoongi appears to be easily winning which only makes Seokjin even more competitive and, thus, even more drunk. Jaebum observes with a slight smile, sipping on his own drink. 

The noise builds as time wears on, the room getting hot and humid as people get progressively more drunk. Hoseok is trying to haul in some sort of speaker system into the room but he’s obviously had too much to drink as he is clearly struggling. Yugyeom and BamBam laughing too hard at his struggle, practically falling onto the floor when Hoseok gets caught up in the wires, to offer much help. 

Despite his earlier reservations, Jaebum is having a good time. It’s nice to be around his friends like this again, it’s fun and young and everything a college kid should do with his summer. 

And if his eyes make a quick dart around the room looking for Youngjae, then no one is for the wiser. 

They start to hit that fuzzy part of the night where even Jaebum is starting to feel warm and good, when Mark ends up on Taehyung’s lap, already had too much to drink to stand straight anymore. Jimin gives them a speculative look, like evaluating how Taehyung and Mark look together. Taehyung gives him a teasing smile and starts to nose at Mark's soft skin, eyes still fixed on Jimin. Mark's eyes widen, surprised but certainly not pushing him away from where he starts to leave a mark. Jaebum rolls his eyes when devilish hands start to slide up Mark’s thighs, playing with the ragged holes in his black jeans. 

“I think that’s my queue to leave,” he says dryly, standing and leaving them to instigate their own trouble. Instead he slouches off to find something else to get into. Spotting the drink station due to where a few of the girl counselors have gathered. He nods politely to one he knows, Momo, an underclassman in his dance department, but still ducking around them to get another drink. 

After topping off his drink, he turns back to the room only to be practically plowed over by BamBam. 

A sturdy hand appears just when he needs it, grabbing his elbow to balance him. Warm, brown eyes sparkle with an easy humor, and he is instantly distracted from grabbing BamBam by his collar and punishing him, entranced instead by Youngjae’s bright smile. 

His heart beats uncomfortably. Uncomfortably, of course, because of the heat of the room and the liquor in his veins and definitely not because of the energy that vibrates between them. No, definitely not that. 

“Okay?” Youngjae asks. 

“Y-yeah,” he grunts, “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks.” 

“Good,” Youngjae replies, the tone of his voice smoothing over his ears pleasantly. Jaebum swallows, mouth suddenly dry. And with another flash of a smile, one that sends his heart beat into overdrive, Youngjae disappears back in the overcrowded room leaving Jaebum feeling oddly unsettled. 

——

After the next morning’s classes, with a majority of the counselors groaning and rubbing at their temples throughout, they are all ready for some lunch. Tray in his hands, Jaebum arrives at the staff dining table only to find most of the seats filled. 

“Ah, hyung!” Youngjae calls, spotting him and waving next to him, “There is a spot open here-” 

At the exact same time he spots Jackson dragging Namjoon from his seat and leaving open another seat. He hesitates, last night popping to mind, and Mark, who was sitting next to Namjoon, turns to give him a funny look. 

Clearing his throat, Jaebum nods at the Namjoon’s seat, “I’ll just sit here, thanks though.” He sits before he can see Youngjae’s reaction, ignoring Mark’s heavy stare as he does so. 

“You are such an ice queen,” Mark informs him bluntly. 

“Why? This seat was closer, it only makes sense.” It sounds like a lie, even to his ears. 

“Yeah, but you are only going to spend the entire dinner staring over at Youngjae anyways, so you might as well sit next to him while you do. It’s only polite.” adds Jin without any snark, happily spooning rice into his mouth and humming contentedly. 

“Ooh!” Hoseok turns and jumps into the conversation excitedly, “Are you talking about that new vocal coach Hyung is infatuated with?” 

“I am not.” Jaebum protests. Hoseok laughs at him while Mark watches him knowing eyes. He wonders when he got so easy to read. Irritably, he says, “Stop looking at me like that. Or should I ask about how your night went last-” 

“Like I said,” Mark quickly interrupts, “such an ice queen.” Jimin chews on his bottom lip to stop a smile. 

Taehyung overhears just the ice queen part and, of course, immediately starts obnoxious belting out that Disney song that a million people did a cover over two summers ago, roping Jungkook and BamBam into it as well. They croak out _Let it Go_ and Jaebum just picks up his chopsticks, doing his best to ignore the noise and hoping that they are suitable distracted enough to leave him to his food now. 

——

During some individual practice time for his students (which means free time for himself), Jaebum spreads out his notes in a sunny spot outside and to give them another look. He ignores that he picked the same spot where he stumbled in on Youngjae practicing that first day. It’s convenient and quiet and out of the way and totally not because he can’t stop thinking about the moment or that song Youngjae had been singing. 

“Hey.” 

His chest tightens as he instantly recognizes that honey-like voice. He looks up to see Youngjae walking over, dressed in a baggy white t-shirt and some comfortable, worn-looking jeans. 

“Hey,” he echoes, forcing his eyes back down to not linger over how soft Youngjae looks right now or the flash of collarbone when he moves. Speak of the devil. Damn him for making his heart flutter like this. 

“What are you working on?” Youngjae asks, completely oblivious to his inner turmoil and crouching down to peer over his shoulder where Jaebum is hunched over and scratching furiously at his composition papers. He is so aware of Youngjae physical presence that it’s really stupid for him to even pretend that he is trying to do something else right now, but he frowns and shakes it off, trying to regain his focus. 

“A song,” he replies vaguely. 

“I didn’t know you wrote songs,” Youngjae says with what seems to be a bit of wonder, coming to sit beside him on the ground with him, taking a further peek at his notes. Jaebum feels oddly shy at Youngjae looking at his song, but hiding his notes away also feels like a bit of a defeat so he stands his ground. 

“How come?” he asks instead of doing or saying something even more stupid. 

“How come I didn’t know you wrote songs?” Youngjae flashes him a teasing grin, “Well you teach dance here for one. And you know us vocals, we just assume all dancers are similar to cavemen. Eat, dance, sleep. Grunt. Right?” 

He throws Youngjae an unamused glance which is ruined by the upward twitch of his lips. Youngjae just bubbles with laughter, bumping shoulders with him in a friendly gesture. 

“I study theoretical music, I’ll have you know," he says dryly, adding, "With dance, I’m a double major." Youngjae’s eyes light up at that in that special way that only happens when someone is truly passionate about music and it’s clear that he has every bit of Youngjae’s attention. Jaebum continues on, spurred on by Youngjae sole focus on him, enjoy it more than he would like to admit. 

“I’m used to writing several songs a week. It used to be so easy for me, to come up with songs that even impressed my teachers. Melodies, lyrics, notes. Music just came so naturally to me, I didn’t even have to think about it.” 

Youngjae watches intently, not interrupting, just letting him talk. He’s not sure why he keeps talking, not really one for words with those he doesn’t really know, but Youngjae feels steady and reassuring right now. And even though he’s known Youngjae a short period of time, he doesn’t feel like someone Jaebum doesn't know. Licking his lips, he confides in him something he hasn’t shared with anyone. 

“But lately I can’t seem to come up with anything at all,” he trails off. 

“Why do you think that is?” Youngjae asks gently, pressing more firmly into his side. Jaebum appreciates the warmth, slightly leaning back into Youngjae as well. 

“I’m not sure.” 

Youngjae hums, but doesn’t add anything, letting the atmosphere settle nicely between them. Between Youngjae’s steadiness and the bright sun and coolness of the shade from the trees, Jaebum find himself relaxing further, almost to a point where everything seems soft and hazy. After a moment to soak up the moment, he returns to his song. It feels a bit easier to write now. 

——

The next day, he sneaks off to Cabin Four, leaning against the door to the cabin where his kids are currently having their vocal lesson. He’s here to pick them up and guide them across the camp to their next class, coincidently, the current class is being taught by one Choi Youngjae. Closing his eyes, he tilts his face to the sun as he listens to faint music coming from the class. Whatever song they are practicing sounds good, slow and soothing. Youngjae’s voice guides them clearly through the chorus, easily leading the class. A small smile inches on his lips at the easy grace in Youngjae’s voice.

“Weird…” Jaebum jerks, peaceful mood instantly shattered when he sees Jimin and Taehyung staring at him with wide eyes, a phone in their hands. Taehyung nudges Jimin before fake whispering with a horrible fake accent, “And now we have the almost extinct _Im Jaebum_ out in the wild. Never before has such smile been caught on film before-” 

When he realizes that they are filming him, Jaebum launches himself at the two of them, tackling them to the ground. One of them screech as he sits on them, pressing down to use his full body weight to keep them trapped underneath him. While they gasp for breath, Jaebum takes advantage and starts wiggling his fingers at their sides. Predictably, they start shrieking and laughing hysterically, too caught up in their laughing and squirming to even have a concentrated effort either to push him off or get him to stop ticking them. 

Just as he is about to knock their heads together, someone clears their throat from behind them. They all freeze, realizing in the ringing silence afterwards how loud they must’ve just been. 

Turning slowly, he sees Youngjae blinking down at them from the cabin doorway, his class peering around him desperate to get a look. Wanting nothing more than to melt into a puddle of embarrassment, Jaebum quickly jumps up. 

“Uh-“ he flusters, hiding his hands behind his back which are suddenly all sweaty, Taehyung and Jimin are helping each other to their feet, looking fiendish and starting to giggle again. He ignores them, grasping for something to say, “I’m here to pick the kids up.” 

“I can see that.“ Youngjae says slowly, trying to hide his grin. The kids start to snicker behind him and Jaebum wants nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow him whole. Instead he clears his throat and adopts his most teacher-like voice. 

“Alright, let’s go kids, you’ll be late for your next class.” Youngjae bites his lips and steps out of their way, but the kids only give him funny looks. 

“Sure, but-“ one of his campers chimes in, pushing his way through his classmates to give him a pointed look, “You know our next schedule is individual practice, right?” 

“Uh-“ He frowns and quickly comes up with something not stupid to say. He doesn’t. Youngjae laughs at him and despite still wanting to melt into the ground, his chest feels light and a smile tugs at his lips. He’s sure his students are watching him with wide eyes, it's rare for him to smile in class, but he can’t be bothered to assume his stern teacher persona now, not when Youngjae is laughing so infectiously. 

Eyes crinkling happily, Jaebum can’t help but to happily join in with his own bright laughter. Feeling light and relaxed, he doesn’t notice his campers start to smile and giggle along with him. Nor does he notice Youngjae’s laughter slowly start to die off, watching him with steady, curious eyes. 

——

They have a campfire on the last night of camp. Dusk is settling prettily, washing the sky in an ombre of colors and cooling the campground to a perfect temperature. The kids are gathered around the campfire, chatting away happily. It’s starts off casually, just talking and laughing and having a good time. It’s not long however, in true music camp fashion, that a guitar is brought out and the campers start singing. 

After a few songs, Youngjae nabs the guitar and starts a slower rhythm. It must be a song that the kids learn during their vocal lessons because soon a majority of them are singing along. A few of the more talented singers give some fantastic rifts and it sounds beautiful, adding to the melody. Then Youngjae breaks from the chorus to float above it, seemingly effortlessly harmonizing with the others. His voice is bright and lifts the entire spirit of the song. 

Jaebum can’t keep his eyes off of him. 

Youngjae is sitting in the middle of his kids and softly strumming at his guitar. His voice rings clearly in the night, colored by the pure joy that shines through his smile. He looks so natural sitting there, his students looking at him with admiration clear on their faces and his fellow staff smiling and, even they, start to join in. Jaebum spots at the corner of his eye Jinyoung turning to look at him. He can only wonder what kind of emotions are playing his own face right now, not even sure himself. 

Every gesture and movement warms Jaebum from the inside out, just content with Youngjae looking so happy. 

Just then, Youngjae turns and their eyes meet across the fire, and it feels practically electric. Youngjae’s eye are sparkling almost as if they hold a secret just for him. The fire gives Youngjae a warm glow, lighting up his eyes beautifully, and smiling widely at him. His chest tightens in the intensity of it, but he doesn’t dare look away for even a moment. He bites his tongue to stop himself from doing something stupid in front of all of these impressionable kids. 

Jinyoung looks back and forth between them at his side, nudging him with his elbow, but Jaebum doesn’t even twitch. 

This moment seems far too important to look away. 

——

After the campfire, Jaebum returns to his dorm and instantly heads for his bed, pulling out his worn notebook and pencils from his bags. 

With the lingering feelings in his chest, he slowly opens his notebook, gently smoothing down the pages to lay flat against his knees. His pen finds the page and suddenly notes are flowing out of him. A flash of a grin, those soft eyes, a quirk of his lips, and even when he licked ice cream from the corner of his lips- Youngjae consumes his thoughts as a melody forms in his head. It rings clear and strong against all of the other notes and beats that live in his thoughts, making it easy for his pen to flow against his paper. Translating his inner melody into something solid before his eyes. 

It feels like forever and yet no time at all before he runs out of paper. Cursing slightly, he finishes up on the back cover of the notebook itself with a flourish. Leaning back he looks down, eyes quickly going over what he jotted down, in awe that something so beautiful came from him. And all because of the way another person, Youngjae, makes him feel. 

It’s strange to him. At first glance, Youngjae looks soft around the edges, someone to curl up to, to confide in, and while he is definitely those things, there is a sturdiness and an unbreakable spirit there in his strong shoulders and determined eyes. There are so many sides to this hardworking person and Jaebum is greedy and eager to learn them all. The intensity of his willingness to learn every angle of Choi Youngjae causes a shiver up and down his spine. 

He hadn’t been aware that anyone could make him feel like this. Youngjae inspired all of these conflicting and exaggerated emotions that he’d never had with someone else before. He didn’t even know people could actually feel this way about another person, outside of movies or books or the stories told by old married couples. But here he was, faced with Youngjae, who made him feel all sorts of ways and more. 

Just then, Jackson bursts into his room and he jumps, closing the notebook with a slam and quickly hiding it behind his back, like a child caught with something he shouldn’t have. After a quirk of his eyebrow that shows he didn’t fool anyone, Jackson throws a pillow at his face. Jaebum easily bats it away with a frown at his childish actions. 

“C’mon!” Jackson says, not letting him lingering on it, “The other coaches have decided to sleep outside today by the campfire. The weather is too good not to and they want to do something special with our last night.” His lips quirk into a full grin, “Another tradition starting, don’t you think?” 

Jaebum doesn't answer. He isn’t sure that, with the emotions pull at his chest and his thoughts still chaotically swirling, it’s a good idea to join the others, but Jackson is already grabbing his sleeping bag and bustling off, leaving him with little choice. 

——

They have the fire blazing steadily again, happily mingling and trying to ignore the bitterness of their soon departure. A few people have pulled out cots, so they won’t have to sleep on the ground, and Jackson quickly snags two, throwing their stuff on them to claim them. 

They go and join the other by the fire, but Jackson quickly abandons him to go and drape himself over Namjoon’s back, hooking his chin over his shoulder. Namjoon looks back in surprise before recognizing Jackson. They both then share a slow, intimate smile. Jaebum’s eyebrow arches, not sure exactly when that happened, but definitely not against it. They make sense in their own way. His own smile playing at his lips, Jaebum searches for Jinyoung to share a look with, but his eyes fall on Youngjae instead. Youngjae is watching him across the fire with a small smile, his eyes reflecting the blaze of the fire. His heart thumps loudly in his chest, quickly looking away. 

At that moment, thankfully giving him a distraction, someone calls for more firewood and eager for a moment alone to gather his composure, he immediately volunteers. 

As does, apparently, Youngjae. 

Trying to steady his racing heart beat, he offers Youngjae a tentative smile as they head off for the woods. Youngjae wordlessly follows his lead. He can feel the weight of his friends stares on their backs, but he shakes it off, far too occupied with trying to control himself to even worry about them. 

They are quiet as they pick through the trees, occasionally picking up pieces of firewood as they go, but there is a lingering tenseness between them. He knows that it is really up to him to start a conversation, but Jaebum is lost in the tension that runs between them and, frankly, really unsure of what to say to Youngjae in the moment. 

_Hey, I can’t stop thinking about you. How did you sweep into my world and make me feel like this? Do you even like me?_ \- or even 

_I wrote a song about you._

He cringes at that last one, mentally berating himself for sounding like a soap actor. And still, the tension hangs between them. Frustrated with the entire situation, Jaebum takes a sweeping look around, maybe some sort of tree or bush could give him inspiration for a conversation starter.. 

Just at that moment, he stills. Youngjae stops as well, turning to look at him with a question in his eye. They’ve wandered and ended up in that exact clearing where Jaebum first heard Youngjae sing. The picnic bench, the trees, and everything is bathed in a deep twilight that casts an almost surreal picture on the clearing. 

Jaebum isn’t sure whether to call this irony or destiny. 

“Do you want to sit?” Youngjae asks, beautiful unaware of how fast his heart is pounding. Nonetheless, they sit and, despite the complicated mess of thoughts and feelings running through him, he still is unable to come up with anything to say. Instead he tilts his head back to look at the sparkling stars in a sky of pinks and purples. 

He feels a tentative touch to his shoulder and Jaebum’s breath is trapped in his chest, swallowing at his nervousness. He continues to stare up at the sky, not daring to look Youngjae’s way. The tension builds until it’s thick between them, enough to wade through them. Jaebum is afraid to move and, against his usual direct determination, he is scared of taking that first step. He’s not even sure why it scares him so much. It’s the risk of losing something that so unique and special to him that causes this inability to even take a deep breath. Just as he is about to do something stupid, like get up and leave, Youngjae shifts beside him pressing firmly against his side. 

“Hyung,” Youngjae whispers, emotions choking at the single word. At the sound of his warm voice, Jaebum is reminded of Youngjae, the person that made him feel all of these mixed emotions in the first place. Youngjae is strong and steady, passionate and hardworking, everything that Jaebum values and can find support in. He is reminded about why he started to fall for Youngjae in the first place and, most importantly, he realizes that he can _trust_ Youngjae with all of these feelings. 

Right when he has that realisation, Jaebum relaxes. The tension between them and the tautness of his shoulders smooths over as he allows himself to fully feel all of the good, warm ways that Youngjae evokes in him. 

The moment he does relax, Youngjae starts to strokes lightly at his shoulder. Jaebum shivers at the gentleness, the affection in his touches as Youngjae maps his way up, brushing by his neck and the curve of his ears until he runs his hands through his hair, massaging firmly at his scalp. 

Jaebum closes his eyes against the touch, trusting and pliant under Youngjae’s ministrations. It’s soothing and gentle, reflecting the way he feels whenever he is with Youngjae. It’s enough for his chest to tighten as he is, again, reminded for his feelings for this man. How his presence and lightest touch sets every nerve on fire. He’s never felt this way about another person before and it’s overwhelming, but he wants more. Wants every piece that Youngjae can give him. 

Completely in tune with him despite not uttering a single word, Youngjae traces the curve of his eyebrow with a finger. His breath stills as Youngjae explores, tracing up to his forehead, down his nose and brushing across his birthmarks, and finally down to his jawbone. He can feel Youngjae hesitate before his soft fingers flutter feather-soft against Jaebum’s lips. 

They both freeze and Youngjae sucks in a shaky breath. 

Jaebum slowly opens his eyes and finds Youngjae watching him with such raw emotion that is plainly visible on his face. His heart flutters in his chest. The air between them is electric and he is just waiting for one of them to make the first move. A little tentatively, Jaebum reaches up to take Youngjae’s hand into his own, intertwining their fingers and pulling them away from his face. His mouth is suddenly dry and he parts his lips to lick at his lips. Youngjae’s eyes drop to follow the movement, parting his own lips. Encouraged, Jaebum leans closer- 

And that’s the exact moment Taehyung and Jimin stumble into their clearing, laughing loudly and completely breaking the moment. 

They jump away from each other, quickly scooting away. Youngjae has found something else to pretend to look interestingly at in the distance, leaving Jaebum with the privilege of glaring daggers at their interrupters, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. 

Taehyung and Jimin's eyes wide, realizing what they just walked in on. Guilt is written all over their faces, a quick apology at their lips. Knowing that the moment is broken with no hope of reviving it, he sighs and stands, slightly frustrated but trying not to show it. Jaebum brushes off some dirt from his jeans before offering a hand to Youngjae. 

“C’mon,” he murmurs, irritation melting at Youngjae’s parted lips and lightly flushed face. He smiles easily instead, “Let’s go.” 

“Jackson found marshmallows?” Taehyung blurts out, probably as some sort of odd peace offering, just as Mark stumbles into the clearing. Mark’s wide smile drops when he sees Jaebum and Youngjae there, blinking at them surprised. They all three fidget and Jaebum rolls his eyes. He guesses they aren’t the only ones trying to take advantage of their last night. Taking Youngjae’s hand and lacing their fingers together, not at all caring when all gazes drop to watch their intertwined hands in surprise, including Youngjae. 

“Play nice,” is all he says before he leads them away. It’s not fleeing, but it sort of feels like it. 

When they return to the campfire, most of the others have dragged around their cots into groups and are slipping into their sleeping bags. Jaebum hesitates for a moment, suddenly remembering that they left the firewood back at the clearing. He curses and looks around, before realizing that he still has Youngjae's hand interlaced with his own. He lets go with a sheepish smile but Youngjae’s lips twitch in amusement, eyes sparkling with warmth. 

"We left the firewood back there." 

"I'm certainly not going back for it," Youngjae chuckles and Jaebum's heart soars for no reason other than seeing Youngjae happy. He's fallen so hard he is lost. 

"Forget it," he replies, reaching for Youngjae's hand again, "Those three can be responsible for the firewood." 

“Wait,” Youngjae steps from out of his reach before he can say anything. Jaebum watches interestedly as he goes over and snags a cot, dragging it over to Jaebum’s cot has already been set up. Jaebum’s eyes widen, not sure at this new development, but Youngjae waves him over with a reassuring smile. Again he relaxes, trusting in Youngjae. 

Youngjae unzips his sleeping bag to make it lay like a blanket. Blinking, Jaebum copies and Youngjae grins as he climbs underneath and scoots all the way over until their blankets are slightly overlapping. They share a couple of words and a few warm, lingering looks before settling down. Sleep pulls at him in a lazy fashion and even though he thought it would be impossible to sleep with Youngjae so close, he instead feels completely relaxed, his eyelids already heavy. 

“Goodnight, hyung,” Youngjae whispers just as he slips into his dreams. 

——

He wakes up the next morning, just after dawn, warm despite the coolness of the air and the dampness of the early morning dew. Some of the others have abandoned them for their cabins, but a few dedicated souls have braved the cool air. Jaebum barely notices, warm from where Youngjae slipped under his sleeping bag sometime during the night and pressed into his side, tangling their legs together. 

Feeling privileged in Youngjae’s trust and faith in him to cuddle up and fall asleep with his head on his shoulder, Jaebum’s chest practically bursts with the amount of joy and comfort he finds in him. Greedily, his eyes traces every curve and feature of his sleeping face. Unable to stop himself from touching, he strokes Youngjae's back in large, slow circles, memorizing every inch under his fingertips. 

He moves slowly so that Youngjae won’t wake, but is ultimately unsuccessful when Youngjae starts to shift, eyelashes fluttering as he stirs into the present. It takes him a while to fully awake up, Jaebum silently noting that he is obviously not a morning person, before Youngjae noses into neck, groaning slightly unhappily. 

“Good morning,” he mumbles, sleep rasping at his tone. 

“Good morning,” Jaebum echoes, heart completely full. He can feel Youngjae smile into his nape and he shivers. He gathers what little courage he has. 

“I wrote a song about you,” he says, immediately wincing after at how blunt and awkward he sounds. 

Youngjae doesn’t answer, nor even move. He finds it hard to even breathe, worried that even the slightest movement might break the intense mood between them. After a few heartbeats, Youngjae shifts to sit up slightly and Jaebum can already feel his heart dropping from his chest, but then Youngjae turns and leans his weight on his elbow to peer down at him. Suddenly he is so close that Jaebum can see every eyelash and freckle that lightly scatter across his cheeks. His breath leaves him in a rush because most of all, most importantly of all, Youngjae’s eyes are soft and sparkling happily at him. 

“Oh?” Youngjae teases. 

“Oh,” he repeats, thinking that this might become a running thing between them. And the next thing he knows, Youngjae is leaning down and kissing him, full of affection and warmth. Jaebum’s pulse races, one hand sweeping up Youngjae's back to gently hold the back of his neck, pulling him into another kiss with his own affections reflected. Youngjae laughs joyfully into their kiss and Jaebum doesn’t know how he has survived this long without him in his life. 

After exchanging a few more lazy kisses, Youngjae lays back beside him. 

They lay and watch the sun rise over the tree tops together, chatting quietly and occasionally sharing soft kisses, his hands in Youngjae’s hair and Youngjae gently tracing his collarbone. Just happy and content to lay wrapped up in each other.

**Author's Note:**

> WHEW! Lord have mercy, I was so nervous writing this! I wanted to do well and I hope you've liked it.
> 
> The past couple of months were a whirlwind as I was working on this. Actually, this is kind of the condensed version of the original fic that I had planned. There is a lot to this world that I wanted to play with, I have a bunch of extra scenes and I actually wrote for the competition that was bonus points in your summer camp prompt BUT I wrote about 10k and I wasn't close to finished. Yeah... so, if the flow isn't exactly right it's because I had to cut a lot of scenes. I'd love to come back and go through this again. Or hit up some of the other prompts you gave me. They were all amazing.
> 
> I honestly want to try writing this from Namson's perspective--
> 
> I sincerely hope that you've enjoyed this! I had so much fun and I feel like I've grown so much as a writer through the past couple of months. So, thank you.


End file.
